Yisroel Zev Gustman

Yisroel Zev Gustman (1908 - June 10, 1991)[4][5] was the last Dayan (rabbinic judge) in Vilna during World War II.

RabbiYisroel Zev Gustman
Born1908 (1908)
DiedJune 10, 1991(1991-06-10) (aged 82) (28 Sivan 5751 Anno Mundi)
Burial placeMount of Olives
OccupationRosh Yeshiva, Dayan
Spouse(s)Sarah (Bassin) Gustman[1]
Parent(s)Avrohom Tzvi Gustman[2][3]

After the war he moved to the United States,[6] headed a Yeshiva on Eastern Parkway, in Brooklyn, NY[1], and in 1971 immigrated to Israel, where he established the Netzach Yisroel - Vilna Ramiles Yeshiva[7] in the Rechavia neighborhood of Jerusalem.[1]

On Thursday afternoons he gave an open, high-level shiur in the yeshiva, attended by "Rabbis, intellectuals, religious court judges, a Supreme Court justice and various professors."[1]

Biography

He was born in Lithuania (then in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire) in 1908. In his youth he was known as an illui and learned in Chavruta together with Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz in Grodno,[3] and learned from Rabbi Shimon Shkop at the Grodno Yeshiva.

At age 20 he married a daughter of Rabbi Meir Bassin, who died shortly before the wedding; despite his age, Gustman inherited Bassin's positions of[1]

Gustman's son Meir was murdered by the Nazis.[4][1] Gustman, his wife Sarah and a daughter survived.

Life in Israel

The yeshiva he opened Israel was named after the yeshiva in Vilna he had headed, beginning in 1935[3] until World War II.[8]

The Gustmans saw grandchildren. Rabbi Gustman's wife passed away before he did.[1]

Plants

As a form of payback that his life was saved by "the shelter of the bushes and the fruit of the trees" in a forest during the war, he personally acted as gardener in a yeshiva in Israel.[9]

Written Works

Gustman's main writings, some published post-humously by his son-in-law, were volumes on the following Talmudic tractates:

  • Gittin
  • Kiddushin
  • Bava Kama
  • Bava Metzia
  • Bava Batra
  • Nedarim
  • Ketubot
  • Kuntresei Shiurim[10]

References
  1. Rabbi Ari Kahn. "The Rabbi and the Professor".
  2. Insights to the Daf (Volume 5). Kolel Iyun ha-daf (Jerusalem). 2005. ISBN 1583308261. Rav Yisroel Zev ben Avrohom Tzvi Gustman zt"l (Vilna, New York, Yerushalayim).
  3. "Rav Yisroel Zev Gustman zt"l, On His 19th Yahrtzeit, Today, 28 Sivan". June 10, 2010.
  4. David Page (April 17, 2017). "Rabbi Gustman's Astounding Survival". Aish.com.
  5. 2014 28 Sivan=June 26; 23rd Yartzeit of 1991 28 Sivan=June 10 "Rabbi Fishbain shlita on the Yartzeit of his rebbe, HaRav Yisroel Zev".
  6. "R. Yisroel Zev Gustman (1908-1991)" (PDF).
  7. "The Words They Need to Hear". Mishpacha. September 27, 2017.
  8. see Hebrew Wikipedia article for more details
  9. "Gratitude to the Inanimate".
  10. "Background to the DAF".
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